


Realm of Wonder

by Val_Creative



Category: Kyou Kara Maou!
Genre: Crossover, Friendship, Humor, Kissing, M/M, Mild Language, Parody, fairytales - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-30
Updated: 2013-01-30
Packaged: 2017-11-27 14:07:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/662862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Creative/pseuds/Val_Creative
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He wouldn't expect Gwendal to ever suppress his dignity and pride long enough to dress in a ridiculously puffy and colorful caterpillar costume.  /Parody with Alice in Wonderland.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Realm of Wonder

**Author's Note:**

> "Why You Shouldn't Trust Cabinets."

.

.

 

Somehow, Yuuri thought it shouldn't have been this difficult.

 _Okay_ … given that he hadn't been home in almost four months and that his Mom had a nasty little habit of rearranging where the utensils and the rest of the dinnerware (he suspected sometimes that it was just to mess with the rest of the household), it was natural to get a little frustrated when he couldn't find a cup for his water.

And he _only_ had five minutes — his dark eyes glanced up at the blue and green polka-dotted clock hung on the wall above him — to leave his house and sprint three blocks before the charter bus taking him to his game would leave.

Growling slightly under his breath, the teenager dropped to his knees, clutching his baseball uniform in one fist and opening the cabinet near the sink with his free hand. Making a small cry of success, Yuuri snatched onto a clean glass before slamming the top of his head painfully against the wood, mistaken in thinking it had been a good idea to lift his head up at that very moment.

" _Ow…! Crap…_ "

He didn't have time for this.

Massaging at his throbbing scalp through his black hair, he squinted an eye and carefully rose himself to his feet. No seeing double. No concussion. Gripping onto the powder blue countertop, Yuuri just so happened to look in the direction of the hallway.

The clock nearby stopped ticking.

For a millisecond — he almost didn't catch it, it had been that quick — something very white and fluffy streaked from one end of the hallway to the other.

Very confused at the present time and wondering if the bump was _that_ severe, Yuuri continued to rub his head as he peered through the doorframe into the hallway. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The polka-dotted clock, strangely enough, started ticking again. The sounds of a bathtub being filled in the next room.

Wait a minute…!

There was no one else in the house to turn the faucet on…

Clutching his white uniform to the front of his gakuran protectively, Yuuri slid himself across the opposite wall to the family bathroom. Very slowly, he looked, not really expecting any particular kind of stranger wanting to _take a bath_ in their house.

To his surprise, no one was there. Just the large porcelain bathtub gradually filling up with steamy water.

Beside the little white rabbit preparing to leap into it.

… _!_

"What the—!"

With a _sploosh!,_ the furry creature dove headfirst into his overflowing bathtub. Soon after Yuuri joined him, rushing forward with outstretched arms with the good intentions of rescuing the supposedly suicidal animal and instead accidentally slipping on the wet tiles near the lip of the tub.

" _Aaaargh—!_ "

 

* * *

 

.

.

This dark, rapid whirlpool looked familiar somehow.

 

.

.

* * *

 

"Oh…oh, are you injured, young man?"

Who was talking to him? And why did they sound so… _squeaky_?

Opening very heavy eyelids, Yuuri discovered himself to be lying on his back in a very green meadow. Hunched over him, fiddling with a big gleaming golden watch between his paws, the white rabbit stared into his eyes at a very close range.

Several things passed Yuuri's thoughts.

  * This rabbit had very purple eyes.


  * This rabbit was not a rabbit at all. It was a small man with flowing, lavender-colored hair merely dressed in a fuzzy-white, rabbit suit.


  * He knew this man.


  * This man was starting to get a nosebleed.



Scrambling away to avoid the first drops of blood, Yuuri exclaimed loudly, " _Günter_!"

The rabbit-man blushed profoundly, opening his mouth to gasp, " _Dear Shinou's belt_! You are simply an enchanting creature. First you appear out of thin air with your commanding and regal dark hair and eyes, but you know my name as well? No one has ever called me by my real name before!" He bounced once excitedly, twisting in midair, before landing solidly.Little pink hearts began to form in his pupils.

"I didn't appear out of thin air!" Yuuri argued, "I was following you into my bathtub…and…where are we…?"

"The realm of Wonder. Just outside the Fork In The Road and the Twig Forest." Günter twirled his watch and became bug-eyed, staring horrified down at it. "Oh dear! Oh dear! _I'm going to be late!_ And I haven't brought proper tribute for the Queen!"

In the middle of his frantic self-remanding, as if by a magnetic force, the long-haired man drew his eyes down to gaze at Yuuri's soaked garments.

"This will have to do!" He ripped the white baseball hat from Yuuri's limp right hand.

" _Hey!_   Where are you going with that! I need—!" Yuuri hesitated, a sickening realization seizing up the walls of his stomach that prevented him from chasing the other male. The bus had left already. It's not like he could go at any rate. This is what it felt to be stuck.

And why did it feel so _FAMILIAR…—_!—?

Throwing down his dripping clothes into the tall grass, he groaned.

A pair of floating, black eyes with glasses and a large toothy grin materialized over his baseball shirt accompanied by an amused chuckle. "Lost, Shibuya?"

Holding back the urge to let out a terrified womanly shriek worthy of any horror movie, Yuuri nearly fell over a hidden rock in the meadow from the force of stumbling backwards.

"Do you need to find your way home? I could help if you want." Emerging fully into sight, lodging lazily across his things — a male no older than himself with spiky black hair and wearing a pink and purple striped shirt. The matching cat ears and tail were a bit much, though.

Murata's grin broadened at Yuuri's shock.

"Nice to meet you."

One of Yuuri's dark eyebrows twitch up disbelievingly. "You… _would_ be the Cheshire Cat…" he muttered.

"Ah, so you are finally seeing the pattern." The cloth-like tail flopped back and forth silently as the other teenager pushed up the nose-rim of his glasses with the tip of his left ring finger. "Well, would you like my help or not?"

"It depends. Am I going to be seeing anyone else I know?"

Murata replied, cheekily, closing his eyes, "It depends if you decide to move forward or not."

"That really helps," Yuuri murmured, sarcastically.

The cat-boy pointed sharply towards a dirt road winding out of the green meadow, never relenting on his _'I-know-something-you-don't-know-and-I-love-rubbing-it-in-your-face'_ attitude. "Down there is the Fork In The Road. That should take you to where you want."

"Should I start calling myself Alice?"

"You shouldn't waste time." Murata cocked an eyebrow from behind a lens critically in his direction as Yuuri purposely turned away, patting himself off.

"Hai, hai…"

"We'll be meeting again soon."

When he looked back down the road, the other boy was long gone.

 

* * *

 

"It's an actual fork. I shouldn't be surprised."

Sighing, Yuuri scratched his temple as he approached a rather _giant_ silver dinner utensil protruding from the ground. "So, why did he say go here?"

"Do you mind keeping quiet? I'm trying to concentrate."

" _Gomen_ …" He answered the gruff, disembodied voice automatically before realizing that he had, and that in fact the voice belonged to someone.

Sitting high onto of a tall, soft-looking mushroom, Gwendal glared down at him, two knitting needles in each hand. Yuuri visibly cringed at the look, laughing ruefully and touching the back of his neck, "So, uh, the Caterpillar, right?"

He wouldn't expect Gwendal to ever suppress his dignity and pride long enough to dress in a ridiculously puffy and colorful caterpillar costume.

"Who _—_ are _—_ _you_?"

"U-uh…" The black-haired boy straightened up, trying his best not to blush as he whispered loud enough for the older man to hear, " _I think I'm_ _Alice_."

This answer seemed to satisfy the older man enough. Yuuri watched on bewildered as the gray-haired Commander held out a disfigured stuffed animal to him. "Would you like a Bearbee?"

"S-sure…"

Taking it from him, the teenager tucked it under his left arm and asked, "Could you help me? I need to get back home. I followed a guy in a rabbit suit down my bathtub into this whirlpool and then he stole my hat. I've missed my game and my parents might get worried _—"_

"Would you mind reciting the seats of the ten noble families? In order of where they sit to your right."

Yuuri's mouth slipped open. " _Huh_?"

"No, I suppose you wouldn't know that yet." Gwendal's wrinkles burrowed deeper as he paused from knitting a bearbee torso, his dark blue eyes returned over the mushroom. "Look for a little cottage in the middle of the Twig Forest."

"Is that where I can find my way home?"

Already done talking and now ignoring, the man concentrated solely on his task.

Disappointed in his lack of a response, Yuuri smiled gratefully anyway, waving. "Thank you very much for your help!"

Unknown to him as he took off sprinting for another dirt path, Gwendal faintly smiled.

 

 

.

.

Down the road, maybe half a mile from the darkened entrance to the forest, Yuuri spotted a deserted carriage stopped off by a oak tree. A blonde-haired woman — quite a thin and beautiful woman at that — clapped her hands over her head, seemingly calling to something in the tree above her.

Being the kind and accommodating person as expected, the teenager went over to help.

"Excuse me, is there something wrong? Did your carriage get stuck?"

The woman gazed at him through rosy-colored glasses and smiled suddenly at the sight of him — as if expecting him.

"Oh no, my carriage is fine. But my poor bothersome cat is stuck up in this tree."

"I can get him for you." Yuuri nodded, smiling back encouragingly before ditching the Bearbee stuffie and hoisting himself up onto one of the lower branches.

The blonde warned to him below, "Be careful now. He hasn't been declawed yet and he becomes easily frightened of strangers." Sweat dropping a little at the prospect of being shred to pieces, the boy continued his ascent until he could see the fluttering end of a thin pink and purple cat tail.

Wait a minute…

Examining the backs of his nails meditatively, Murata greeted him without moving his eyes or wavering on his grin. "I told you we'd meet again."

…?

" _What_ … are you doing up here?"

The other dark haired boy smoothed the front of his striped shirt absently, his grin widening almost as if he were struggling to hold back a very great laugh.

"Being stuck up in a tree, of course."

Yuuri slammed a palm into his forehead. "Don't tell me you are _her_ cat."

" _Her_ name is the Duchess. And yes, I am _his_ cat."

"B-but you just called her a him."

The cat-boy informed him, adjusting the right side of his glasses and making them flash noticeably. "The Duchess is indeed a male. Look under his robe if you want the proof." He chuckled pleased at the scandalized expression on the other boy's face. "If you are not too shy."

"…I thought it was a dress."

"You have a lot to learn, Shibuya. I bet the thought of a man kissing another man just makes you squirm."

Yuuri shrugged, answering honestly, "Well… _I'd_ never…"

A thoughtful, soft voice from beneath the fluttering leaves floated up into his hearing. "Is everything all right up there?"

"You're going to make me look like an idiot, aren't you?" As Murata grinned but said nothing, and did not move from his perch to play with the end of a black lock of his hair, Yuuri glared pointedly at his lack of cooperation. On the way down, a stray branch tore through his pants uniform.

_…Can I go home yet?_

"How unfortunate." The blond ( _male,_ apparently) scrutinized the ragged tear on the cloth then gazed upwards at him, frowning. "He doesn't want to come down, now does he? Oh well."

Yuuri blinked surprised when the other boy grasped his tan hand into his both pale and cool one, lifting it up at eye level.

"We haven't been introduced formally, have we?" Briefly, the same pale and cool manner of skin, lips pressed into the back of Yuuri's right hand. "I am the Duchess. But you are free to call me Sararegi, the name my parents gave me. And you are?"

A bit flustered by his forward gesture, Yuuri stammered on a couple nonsense syllables, uncomfortably conscious of the fact that the pink spots on his cheeks were now visible.

" _Alice_."

Light brown eyes — almost cat-like themselves — peered shrewdly above the gold-rimmed edges of his unusual glasses. "What a charming name. It suits you." He had not let go of Yuuri's hand.

"For being so valiant in coming to my aid, I would like to offer my services. Is there some place I can take you?"

For some reason, Yuuri couldn't shake this feeling of dread at his words. And staring too long into the other boy's eyes was beginning to make his knees weak. Slipping his hand free, relieved that the goosebumps went down as he did, Yuuri replied with a forced regret, "I appreciate your offer but I'm sure can get there on my own."

Sararegi smirked. Similar to the fashion of the Cheshire Cat. "I'm sure our paths will cross again, Alice. I look forward to it."

 

* * *

 

Why did that guy…make him feel wary…but also…was so beautiful?

Allowing himself to shiver from a cause he couldn't identify, Yuuri examined his surroundings, careful not to step on the dancing twigs by his feet.

Yuuri had assumed Twig Forest had meant the trees were bare. The trees in fact were full and lush with leaves of varies shades of chestnut and emerald — that 'Twig' had simply meant the thin, brown, laughing nymphs jigging in circles around his sneakers. He should really stop guessing that there was logic in these circumstances.

— _BUT_ if he knew the pattern of where this was all going, he should be meeting up with…

As if on cue, a glossy, coral-painted cottage with dark orange shingles and shutters came into view separated from the thicket.

Shooing away the lingering beasts at his feet who had tried to bite him in spite and approaching a sand-covered walkway, Yuuri could clearly hear the sounds of wonky instrumental music coming from beneath the crack of the coral-colored front door. Before he could knock, the door flew open itself, slamming him in the nose.

"… _Ah_." Gripping at his face, Yuuri didn't scream in pain but was about to fall to his knees when someone grasped him back up to his feet by the collar.

"A _guest_! We have a _guest_!" A female started shrieking.

"What a unique pattern! Where did you get it?"

A muscular, orange-haired man in a green vest, the one speaking and grasping the lacy collar around his neck, examined the shift of the apron tied around Yuuri's waist, fluffing up the crisscrossing blue material approvingly. "I would like to have that tailored to a little number of mine sometime."

…!

With a near shriek of mortification, the teenager stared down at his own body magically clad in a pale blue, knee-length costume with a white pinafore lined in red. Even more embarrassing was the black and white striped stockings rolled all the way up to the tops of his knees. He tore viciously at the black ribbon bound around his left wrist.

" _No_ …! _No_! No, I'm a guy! Guys don't wear _dresses_ …!"

Before Yuuri could be successful in removing the stubborn knot of satin ribbon, a tall woman with a long, magenta ponytail yanked him from the man's reaches and forward to her so that they were almost eye-to-eye. Her blue eyes blazed almost manically.

"Are you a friend of the Caterpillar?"

Petrified of the infamous inventor when she was too close for comfort, even if she had pinned on a headband with ludicrously huge and furry mouse ears, Yuuri swallowed hard.

"E…erm…I…"

"Why does he not answer me with full sentences?" Anissina gave a defiant stare to another occupant of the cottage. The brown-haired man in the oversized top hat lodging all the way at the end of the long table littered with empty teacups nodded towards him. "Don't worry, she asks that to every stranger she meets," he assured Yuuri.

Yuuri brightened immediately at familiar, gentle brown eyes. " _Conrad_!"

"No. Yuuri. Mad Hatter, must keep up," the older man chided patiently, lacing his rust-colored gloves in front of him, against his jumbo upturned collar.

"Yeah. Um. I think I'm suppose to be Alice. So Yosak is…?"

Yuuri glanced at the other man who winked happily in his direction.

"March Hare. Nice to meet ya, Alice."

"And Anissina must be the Dormouse…?" He eyed the strong clench she still kept around him and she loosened it slightly at the concerned look.

"You still didn't answer my question."

"I saw The Caterpillar outside the forest before I entered, up near the Fork In The Road," Yuuri told her. "He should still be there, I think."

 

* * *

 

.

.

Somewhere on top of a mushroom, someone sneezed violently for the second time.

 

.

.

* * *

 

"That little bastard _HAS_ been hiding all this time, hasn't he? _TWENTY YEARS_! Well, he's not getting away _THIS TIME_!"

After a moment, a very windswept Yuuri coughed and brushed his bangs out of his eyes.

"She'll be back soon." Conrad informed no one particular, sipping on an bone-dry but yet still steaming teacup. Yosak pulled out a seat for Yuuri, offering up another empty cup. "Would you like to join us for our celebration?" Yosak asked.

"What are we celebrating?" Confused about the steaming cup, he nevertheless accepted (it seemed like the polite thing to do, if not a little foolish), about to taking a pretend gulp of whatever hot invisible liquid there was when the brunet reached across his empty plate to smoothly steal the cup from Yuuri's hand and drink as if nothing had happened.

"Another day to which the Mad Hatter has not been discovered by the Queen."

Yuuri sensed this was a very serious thing. He leaned over to the orange-haired man, lowering his voice as he asked, "What did he do?"

"Murdered time."

Yosak shook his head sadly, digging into his front pants pocket and presenting openly with his palms, a broken pocket watch. Yuuri stared it solemnly for a minute before exclaiming, "I've seen that watch before!" His fingers skimmed over the gold face. "It was Gun…I mean, the White Rabbit's watch."

"The Queen will also being look for you." The teenager jolted in his small wooden chair.

"Why me? Who is the _Queen_?"

Completely disregarding his question, Conrad gazed up pensively. "The Queen probably already knows you are here." A thunderous _**KNOCK!** _ banged against the cottage door.

"It's probably the Queen's men."

Yosak nodded meaningfully to Conrad who in turn nodded back, sipping again and repeating, "The Queen probably already knows you are here."

"I guess it's too late to try to escape."

The brunette smiled encouragingly at the younger male as another _**KNOCK!**_ reverberated. "Correct, _Alice_."

"Can't I at least change out of this dress?" Yuuri begged, frowning disdainfully at his costume as Conrad said, "No time." Conrad's finger tapped against the pocketwatch.

"But my clothes are right there."

Sitting neatly folded on the long table indeed was Yuuri's school attire. His black sneakers sacked together side by side on his black gakuren.

"That is the wood for our fireplace."

The redhead moved forward, probably intending on tossing the clothes into the giant fireplace nearby, but Yuuri beat him to it, snatching his uniform sternly to his chest. On the way out. As everyone else was being led out by young men in uniforms shaded in dark and light red colors, Yuuri took a couple free moments to throw off the gingham blue dress and change into his original clothing.

 

* * *

 

"This land is called _Morgif_ … for a famous battle that was won."

Conrad whispered into his ear as they approached the mile-high doors leading inside the giant castle, "The Queen's kin won the battle over the mightier lords. It is a legend that has been told over hundreds of years. Whatever you do, you must be careful not to offend the Queen. It will most certainly result in your death."

Making an agreeable noise in his throat, Yuuri nervously fisted sweating hands, heart hammering against his ribcage.

The Queen of Hearts. Famous for killing off people at random. This couldn't be good.

Through more doors, the Queen's men, Yosak, Conrad, and Yuuri walked slowly down a single red carpet surrounded by groups of expensively dressed and powdered women in ball gowns, men he couldn't tell apart from aristocrat or servant, and ordinary adult citizens with different animal suits and fake ears.

The plush red path lead up to two gold thrones on top of carpeted red stairs. A male figure stood commandingly in front of the biggest one with the higher back. He, adorned richly with a frock coat, ruffles, blood red and burgundy tones of dyed linen to contrast the yellow blond of his hair. His green eyes flicked sharply over to one of his guards who bowed at the look and turned to face the court.

"His Majesty von Bielefeld, Queen of Hearts."

As the court inside the audience room bowed and curtsied respectfully, he glanced deliberately over to Yuuri, eyes skimming the teenager from head to foot doubtfully as if to expect some fatal flaw about him.

"Is this the boy you spoke of earlier?" Wolfram directed his question to two men behind him, both identically dressed like court jesters including the bell-caps but with different body types. Yuuri immediately recognized them as Stoffel and Raven.

As they gestured their 'yes' silently and in unison, the Queen sneered.

"He wears black as if he were royalty."

"Why is black royalty?" Yuuri had not meant to speak his question aloud.

It caught Wolfram's attention however.

He stared down at the other boy, eyes narrowing, but at the same time unmistakably interested.

"No one else in this kingdom or beyond it has hair or eyes as dark as yours. To have both and to be seen with the same color of clothes is unheard of."

Emerald eyes suddenly sparked in a manner that Yuuri grew uneasy about. The blond Queen smiled contemptuously, coming down the stairs, announcing, "I decree that this boy belongs to me as of this moment. If any man or woman so much as touches him, they will be sentenced to death by decapitation. It would be my pleasure to do it myself."

Tenderly, as if holding his lover, Wolfram seized Yuuri's face between his pale, greedy fingers, still smiling. Without thinking, Yuuri slapped his hand away, roughly.

Every person in the audience room gasped in a horror-struck harmony.

The Queen of Hearts himself looked nonplussed.

"No one has ever committed such an offensive action against me."

"It won't be the last time."

As the court gasped again at Yuuri's impudence.

Yuuri's eyes weighed heavily by an unpleasant sadness.

"What happened to you?" he said, "You've never been this selfish or possessive."

"What is this idiocy you speak of?" Wolfram gathered back his once thunderstruck wits, now looking extremely angry. "Regardless, it is written you are now my King. Instead of being a prisoner, you command supreme authority of this land. Be thankful that I have spared you."

He pointed to a trio of huddling maids, yelling, "Sew something decent for your new King that bears our colors! Make haste, _fools_!"

The quivering girls fled from the audience room into the abandoned corridor, shutting the doors behind them.

Reluctantly, Yuuri's wrist became victim to Wolfram's persistent hand as the blond forcefully dragged the other boy up towards the thrones. As Yuuri was shoved unceremoniously down onto the smaller one, the Queen of Hearts smirked back composed and confident towards his guests.

"The time has come. Bring the accused forward."

Below, Conrad stepped forward, tilting his hat up to acknowledge him. Wolfram waved to his guards. "Bring forward the object."

Grudgingly, Yosak handed over the gold watch to a sandy haired boy.

Somewhere in the court, someone began weeping passionately. Yuuri spotted Günter sobbing onto a woman's dress, blowing his nose profusely into purple silk.

" _You_ have been accused of murdering time." Wolfram's eyes glittered all too happily at the prospect of to condemning the brown-haired man. "How do you plead?"

"There's nothing to condemn him for." Yuuri interrupted, rising from the chair and running down the carpet-stairs, holding up the watch and its detached faceplate. "See? It just needs to be put back together." With a small _click_ , the pocket watch re-started its eternal ticking.

"Magic…"

"A wizard?"

"A _MIRACLE_!"

As the court quickly broke into obvious gossip, the rabbit suited Günter swung up from the crowd to tackle Yuuri, thanking him again and again through his tears. As the teenager laughed, giving a reassuring hug back to the small man, Wolfram's face darkened to a nasty color to graciously match the hues of his clothes.

" _What did I just get through informing everyone! **OFF WITH**_ —!"

A feminine hand clapped over his open mouth, cutting off his sentence. He scowled lightly at the voluptuous also blonde woman (in a slinky, white gown dotted with very bright red hearts) at his side.

"Mother…"

"You must forgive my little Wolfie-chan, Heika. He gets easily excited sometimes, almost as much when he was in diapers." As Cecile giggled at her son's evident displeasure, Yuuri got a horrific image of a baby Wolfram ordering someone to lose their head. "Are you asking for this man's pardon?"

Yuuri glanced at Conrad who smiled appreciatively and the teenager nodded. "It was an accident. And the watch was fixed. Shouldn't he be pardoned?"

The court murmured against themselves in favor of their King's decision.

Seeing he was beat, Wolfram harrumphed, crossing his arms and turning his head away from Yuuri with his nose in the air.

Cecile clapped her hands, grinning.

"Then it's settled. This young man is pardoned. Now that that is taken care of," she waved to everyone, "Let the ball begin as planned."

As the guests separated and snatched up their drinks from the servants with trays, the maids who bore a striking resemblance to Doria, Sangria, and Lasagna, slipped a familiar-looking, dark red sash around Yuuri. They disappeared, leaving the boy a bit frazzled from the sudden intrusion to his space.

Conrad appeared in front of him as he swept into a low bow before Yuuri. The black-haired teenager simpered, rubbing the back of his neck quietly.

"Is Wolf…erm—" Yuuri winced at Conrad's unexpected sharp look to rival Wolfram's, "—the Queen of Heart's Mother…a queen of something…?"

"She is the Queen of Hearts."

"But I thought _he_ was."

"She is informally. The Queen of Hearts has quite the reputation of ensnaring the devotion of others."

Yuuri spied the blonde woman flirting with two well-dressed men over her wine glass. " _Glad to see not much has changed_ …" he whispered, smiling embarrassed.

From above the celebration, a sulking Wolfram had not left his spot on his throne, one long elegant leg crossed over the other, hand cradling his chin. Not particularly assured by his attitude, Yuuri climbed back up the stairs, addressing the other boy who did not even spare an acknowledging glance at him.

"Why aren't you down there having fun with everyone else? Cecile-sama is."

Emerald eyes scanned the party, landing on his Mother who was turning courteously bright-eyed and pinker with every wine glass drunk from. "Her version of leisure is not shared. I would never parade myself in such a manner," Wolfram grumbled.

"I guess you are right." Yuuri chuckled, the low melody causing the Queen to give a sideways look before resuming his pretense of not caring.

"What is this?" Cecile waved to the boys, drawing most of the court's attention to them and calling out, "You are not to be excluded for this celebration! Wolfie-chan, show your enthusiasm to your new King and grace us with a little dance!" The blond blushed hot red under the collar, mumbling his protest, slouching down. Perhaps even hoping that one of the servants would conveniently drop a glass so that they'd all _stop staring_ — but had not anticipating the other male to haul him from his chair.

" _No_ — I— " Wolfram protested.

He wretched away from Yuuri only to have his right hand held in another more relaxed grip.

The other boy smiled at him, unflustered. "Should I be the guy or should you? I've never been very good with leading."

_Could have fooled me._

Wolfram inhaled awkwardly, puffing up his chest and stiffening his spine to signal his advance. Dutifully taking the female role of the dance, Yuuri surrendered to no exact facial expression as the blond cautiously slide an comfortable arm, a _snug_ fit, around his waist as they drew closer.

The steps were simple. The music commanded nothing from them but to follow its indulgent rhythm. Give a performance to satisfy those watching.

"You look familiar somehow."

Wolfram's eyes studied his black eyes with abnormal patience, a patience that rarely could be found in his complicated character, desiring motive, a key for ambiguity. Something too complicated, too real for Yuuri to even begin to understand. It was too real, this intimacy, their bodies paced to the orchestra, a raw feeling in his diaphragm naturally clenching at the base of his throat and warming it.

A bit caught up in the moment, he leaned into Wolfram's forehead, closing his eyes. " _This is nice_ …" Yuuri murmured. " _We're not fighting…_ "

Flushing from his chest to the place on his forehead where Yuuri seemed most intent on staying, the Queen gulped, panting and tightening his arm instinctively.

" _Yuuri_ —"

"Well, this is most certainly touching." A soft, familiar voice trickled into Yuuri's hearing.

To their left side, the Duchess made his existence known, smirking like the preceding, almost private scene had been very entertaining.

" ** _YOU_** —!"

Protectively thrusting Yuuri behind him, retrieving his sword from the leather scabbard attached to his hip, Wolfram bared his teeth enraged at the unwelcome intruder.

Not at all appearing dismayed as the new King, Sararegi spoke to him, unwearyingly, "I told you our paths would cross again, Alice. Or should I take to calling you Yuuri-heika?"

"Wolfram, stop it. I'm sorry about this, Sara—"

The Queen's green eyes widened appalled at the other boy's lack of conversational tact. " _Yuuri_!"

He respectfully held out his hand for the bespectacled male to shake. "It's nice to see you again. I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it— _will you put the sword away_?" Yuuri hissed over his shoulder to Wolfram who clenched his jaw together, growling, closing his mouth over his teeth and jamming his sword into his sheath wordlessly.

"It is perfectly okay, Yuuri-heika. His Majesty von Bielefeld and I do not having a stirring history. I dare say this response to my company is expected."

"Just call me Yuuri. You let me call you Sara."

The Duchess grinned, eagerly. "I suppose you are correct."

As Yuuri replied with a goofy grin of his own, the other blond whispered furiously behind his back, " _Cheater_ …!"

"A toast to prosperity among friends." The male Duchess retrieved two bottles and some tarts from a passing servant with a polished tray. Yuuri raised his in salute, completely ignorant of the label: _Do Not Drink._ Within seconds, a very giant-like Yuuri found himself thankful for the impossibly high ceilings of the audience room.

A miniature-sized Conrad beaconed below, calling up through his hands, "Eat the sugar tart, Heika!"

"My name is Yuuri— I mean, _Alice_ — I mean… _Aargh_! _I can't keep up_!"

Obeying the older man's command nevertheless, he swallowed down the almost invisible ginger-tasting tart before shrinking rapidly back to the normal height.

The servant who had accidentally given Yuuri the wrong bottle argued with another servant about who was the culprit messing with drinks. Soon, every person in the entire room sought to fight with each other, the volume of their mingled voices rising higher and higher, unsteadily.

Yuuri's head started to pound like mad _and_ agonizing.

There had to be some way to break the spell. From this dream.

He had do something that would seem outrageous in his reality, something he wouldn't normally think of to do.

 _Something_ …

… ** _something_ …**

The Queen let out an undignified yelp that went unnoticed to everyone arguing in the audience room, sensing the cold palace wall as his back touched it with a muffled _thump!._ Another person's warm nose pushed rudely against his. If it had been anybody else, Wolfram could have slain them with his beloved sword easily within reach. But it hadn't been just anybody.

Yuuri summoned all of his determination, his need and his hope into the clumsy, open-mouthed kiss he bestowed without warning upon Wolfram's mouth.

Someone was pulling him away, on his limp hand, someone who bore calluses and strength in his joints, who held on tight with loyalt _y_ …

 

* * *

 

_._

_.  
_

Somehow he had gotten on his back. The person by his bedside, the one with callused hands, the one who rescued him from his dream, brightly haloed yellow by the light by the window, rose immediately as an other foggy taller figure hovered behind them.

Groaning from the sudden razor-sharp pain in his cranium, Yuuri squeezed his eyes shut, burrowing deeper into the pillows.

"…what happened?" he slurred his words a little.

"You were playing that barbarous human game and Weller threw the ball. You must have been daydreaming, wimp. You've been unconscious since yesterday."

Glancing with one, half-open eye at a very drained looking Wolfram and then an equally looking worried Conrad, he said to the guilty brunet, rubbing the sore area without sitting up, "Nice throw..."

Conrad's brown eyes darkened over with concern athis godchild flinching when he pressed too hard and tried to get up too quickly.

"I take full responsibility, Heika. It wouldn't have happened if I was holding back."

"If I found out that you had, I would hate you," Yuuri said, teasingly, smiling consolingly to his overprotective subject. "I'll be fine by tomorrow. It's just a bump."

"—That bled for hours."

Yuuri gave a fleeting cross between a glare and stare to the stubborn blond as Conrad went for the bedchamber door. "I will tell Gisela that you are awake."

Leaning down, Wolfram examined the back of Yuuri's head, frowning attentively.

"At the very least you are no longer bleeding." He lowered his voice, keeping his eyes trained to the dark blue coverlet of the mattress. "You were mumbling in your sleep. You mentioned Gwendal and your clothes… were… you...?

Yuuri had a spontaneous but powerful desire to subdue the melancholy forming in between Wolfram's speech — that died the moment the Mazoku reached over, twisting Yuuri's neck into a headlock and screeching, "Were you having _indecent dreams_ about _my BROTHER! You have me, you CHEATER! How dare you even consider someone else!"_

As the throbbing returned to the point of blinding agony, he began to prefer the dream. At least they weren't fighting there.

Yuuri wondered mildly if trying a second time would work as well here…

 

_fin._


End file.
